Singapore’s Peace Broken by Violence in Little India

On Sunday December 8, Singapore saw the worst violence the country has ever had in 40 years! The country is very strict in enforcing peace and order, but on Sunday night the riot in the Little India district could not be stopped before it got worse. People were injured and vehicles were badly damaged.

Trouble started when a 33-year-old Indian man was hit by a private bus and died. All of a sudden around 400 people in the area began making trouble. They assaulted the bus and the police vehicles that arrived on the scene. The bus driver and conductor, ten policemen and 4 civil defense staff were hurt by the rioting crowd. The rioting crowd was only stopped after the Singapore’s elite Special Operations Command and Gurkhas arrived.

The total amount of damage was only identified after the fracas. Three police cars, an ambulance and several private vehicles were damaged during the riot.

But such acts of violence will not go unpunished in a strict country such as Singapore. The police arrested 27 South Asian workers who were charged with rioting. These people could spend 7 years in prison plus caning, which is a punishment for serious crimes.

Apparently, the place where the riot happened is an area where thousands of foreign workers, especially Indians, go to during their day off.

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong released a statement where he made it clear that there’s no excuse for such violence. All the culprits will be dealt with the full force of the law.